My World Blog

Monday 15th MAY 2006 - Praha - Vídeň (Prague,CZ - Wien,AT)

Checked out at 0900 and off I went to Florenc bus station.Firstly i need to retrieve my ticket from the office.So arriving early in the station would help.Went to the office inside the terminal building and got my ticket at the price of 270 Kč.The original price was 300 Kč ,but there was an additional 10% discount for Under-26.Cool ! Its like only 9.5Euros (about RM 44)

So i waited for the Student Agency bus to come at the Platform 0 , 10 minutes prior departure.To kill some time,i spent my last few czech crowns to buy at the shops nearby.The yellow bus then arrived (it very much looked like a malaysian schoolbus,but hey its far more modern than any bus/coaches in Malaysia).The interior were neat,with DVD played onboard,complimentary newspapers and coffee.


At first I was a bit confused when my ticket were imprinted with the destination - Vídeň (yeah all in cesky lingo),I was curious,asked the staff,and they told me its correct,Vídeň is Vienna,Austria or as the Austrian call it "Wien"

The bus departed at 1030.The bus however will stop at Brno,the next biggest city in Cz.Repub. where we will be transferred onto the bus to Wien.The journey took about 2 hrs to Brno and another 2 hrs plus to arrive at Praterstern bus stop,Wien. Arrived at Wien at about 1530.

Earlier,i have made an arrangement to meet Julia,from HC and she agreed to show me around Wien that afternoon.I waited at the Praterstern Metro station for about 10 minutes,before she turned up,just when i wanted to call her from public phone (travelling without a live mobile phone isnt really a sound idea!).

(meet the wonderfully friendly Julia!)

I was with a backpack and a handluggage,so we decided to send my stuffs at Daniel’s place,the cool guy from HC who agreed to host me while im in Wien.Julia was kind enough to let me contact Daniel thru her mobilephone.Our first destination now,is to Daniel’s at Felbergaße , near the Metro Johnstraße.After meeting Daniel and leaving the luggs,we went to tour Wien,for about 2 hours,cuz Julia had to go by 7.Anyways i guess it was a very nice 2 hrs well-spent by Julia and I.

(the Stephansdom)

She showed me around to the Innere  Stadt (District 1) where important buildings lies like the cool-roofed Stephansdom which is
the only remaining building from the Middle Ages.The we walked to the Hofburg Palace ,to the Rathaus (City Hall), to the beautiful
Naturhistorisches (Natural History) and Kunsthistorisches (Art History)

(Hofburg - Kaisers used to live here in the Kaiserappartements)

We went further out of the 1st District and went to Mariahilf 
(District 6) which this neighborhood is famous for
                  Mariahilferstrasse, one of the busiest shopping streets in Vienna.

Next , to Neubau  (District 7) This picturesque but vibrant community  borders the Museum Quartier,which houses most of the modern museums and a place to chill and hang out,which i liked very much!

(Its nice just to laze around and do nothing here!)

We also visited quickly Alsergrund
                  (District 9) for the Vienna University before we rested near the MuseumQuartier so Julia can jot down for me important places and food/drinks to look forward while im in Wien.That includes Apfelstrudel and Kaiserschamerren to eat and Melange to drink!

Unfortunately,time wasnt on our side.Julia had to leave,and I head back to Daniel’s.But we did have some valueable chitchat session.She told me she’s coming over to Thailand next August.What a great excuse to spend couple of days if not a week in Malaysia! Try to book AirAsia to get the flight from Bangkok to KL i told her! Hope she can make it to Malaysia and i’m more than glad to welcome her to my place,and eat Malaysian food!

I got back to Daniel’s and we talked for a while before he decided to bring me to meet his friends.Our first stop was a kaffehaus in the Mariahilferstrasse where i got to sip the Melange and meet two wonderful people, Bernhard and his gf Margaret.

(Mariahilferstraße)

Soon we were at Bernhard’s place where he and 4 other live in a big apartment.Theyre mostly HC members as well and a couple of them has been to Malaysia .Bernhard told me there are pictures of malaysian food hanged at their kitchen wall.True enough, i saw the evidence of nasi lemak,some mi kari and some thai stuffs.Way cool!

Then we were joined by Franz and Matthias and we had a lot of fun chatting bout travel,Malaysia (theyve been to Pulau Perhentian and Kota Bharu),Austria and Inssbruck (the place where they came from) They also showed me some great pictures of mountaineering/snowboarding in Innsbruck during their last "new year’s eve".Really nice place.Gotta go check that place out someday!

They are very nice people and they enjoyed Drum & Bass (D&B).That explains the turntables and stuffs at both Daniel’s and their place.Great night,very localized feeling of chilling out.Its their way of hanging out with friends,as Daniel told me so (unlike in malaysia,we go "mamak")

Great introduction to Vienna,thanks to Julia,Daniel and friends!

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